Berto Jongman: The Real Terrorists Are…Farm Animals

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 11 Society, 12 Water, Earth Intelligence
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

There’s a population crisis all right. But probably not the one you think

While all eyes are on human numbers, it’s the rise in farm animals that is laying the planet waste

EXTRACT

Human numbers are rising at roughly 1.2% a year, while livestock numbers are rising at around 2.4% a year. By 2050 the world’s living systems will have to support about 120m tonnes of extra humans, and 400m tonnes of extra farm animals.

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Ayesha Khanna: The Economist Explains Blockchain Systems of Trust Building

03 Economy, Advanced Cyber/IO
Ayesha Khanna
Ayesha Khanna

The trust machine

The technology behind bitcoin could transform how the economy works

To understand the power of blockchain systems, and the things they can do, it is important to distinguish between three things that are commonly muddled up, namely the bitcoin currency, the specific blockchain that underpins it and the idea of blockchains in general.

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Stephen Arnold: Technology Disruption Easily Anticipated — Plan for Massive Unemployment!

03 Economy, 11 Society, Civil Society, Commercial Intelligence, Government
Stephen E. Arnold
Stephen E. Arnold

Expect Disruption from Future Technology

A dystopian future where technology has made humanity obsolete is a theme older than the Industrial Revolution.  History has proven that while some jobs are phased out thanks to technology more jobs are created by it, after all someone needs to monitor and make the machines.  As technology grows and makes computing systems capable of reason, startups are making temporary gigs permanent jobs, and 3D printing makes it possible to make any object, the obsolete humanity idea does not seem so far-fetched.  Kurzweilai shares a possible future with “The SAP Future Series: Digital Technology’s Exponential Growth Curve Foretells Avalanche Of Business Disruption.”

Mongoose: Screwed — No College No Job No Rights

03 Economy, 09 Justice, 11 Society
Mongoose
Mongoose

Why do secretaries need college degrees now?

Despite the fact that only one-third of Americans have them, college degrees have become the new high school diplomas, the baseline everyone in the workforce is assumed to meet.

But it's important to remember why employers can get away with this: They have power, and workers don't. And as their power grows, they can engage in ever-more frivolous and gratuitous demands for job applicants.

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Robert Steele: Reinventing the US Army Part I – An American Grand Strategy

#OSE Open Source Everything, 02 China, 03 Economy, 05 Iran, 06 Russia, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Security, 11 Society, Collective Intelligence, DoD, Government, IO Deeds of Peace, Military, NATO Civ-Mil Ctr, Office of Management and Budget, Peace Intelligence, Strategy, Threats
Robert David Steele Vivas
Robert David Steele Vivas

Steele, Robert. Reinventing the US Army Part I – An American Grand Strategy, Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, Press, Projected Publication 2017.

Part I in the Reinventing the US Army monograph series.

Updated November 15, 2016 Robert Steele

This is the author's preliminary draft of the first of three monographs focused on the future of the US Army as  an expeditionary force in a complex world that is rapidly decentralizing while also facing major development challenges. A revised draft is provide at DOC below but the online full-text version has not been updated.

Amazon Kindle Page

Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/2016-Grand-Strategy

DOC (56 Pages): EIN 7FV42 ERAP Steele Vol 1 Grand Strategy 2.4 LINKS

KINDLE (99 cents): An American Grand Strategy: Evidence-Based, Affordable, Balanced, Flexible

See Also:

Steele, Robert. Reinventing the US Army Part II – Overview of Planning and Programming Factors for Expeditionary Army Operations, Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, Press, Projected Publication December 2016.

Steele, Robert. Reinventing the US Army Part III – Strategy, Reality, Precepts, Structure, & Leadership, Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, Press, Projected Publication December 2016.

Full Text with Graphics Below the Fold (Links Added)

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Berto Jongman: USA Disappearing Middle Class – More than Half Make Less Than $30,000 a Year

01 Poverty, 03 Economy

berto smallMore Than Half of All Americans Make Under $30,000 a Year, According to a Shocking New Report

Wage statistics for 2014, recently released by the Social Security Administration, provide proof to the claim we all feared was true: The middle class is actually disappearing. As the online publication Washington’s Blog notes, 51 percent of U.S. workers in 2014 made less than $2,500 a month before taxes—which is below the poverty line for a family of five. What’s worse is that as the numbers in the original report are parsed, other stunning facts become clear. For instance, the fact that nearly 40 percent of Americans aren’t even making $30,000 but rather are earning closer to $20,000. Or that 70 percent of workers made less than $50,000 in 2014.

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